1. Activation sucks and it is basically worthless. All the pirate have activation-free serial numbers for Adobe CS2 so all the activation is good for is making it a hassle for the people who actually bought the program. I don't see why they even bother. Large companies like Adobe like to point to the number of copies that have been pirated and produce dollar figures showing how much money they have lost because of the pirates but chances are that a very small percent of the pirates would actually buy it if they were unable to get it working with a pirated serial or krack. They are just wasting resources that could be put to better use making the applications work better.

Posted at 6:36AM on Dec 19th 2005 by Twist

2. Yea
Works fine - nice that they give you 1 Desktop and 1 Laptop licence

Posted at 6:36AM on Dec 19th 2005 by Richard Earney

3. No - Because if it's like CS, then it won't be able to handle something REALLY simple like mirrored drives, and periodically ask for reactivation :(

Posted at 6:36AM on Dec 19th 2005 by Brian Hampson

4. I can't make a call either way. The initial install and activation went off without a hitch, but I have some concerns about how it will work if/when I have to reinstall in the future. So far I have no complaints with the implementaion itself.

In general, I really don't like the idea of activation. As Twist pointed out, it really does nothing to prevent piracy and is a waste of development resources. I wonder if Adobe brought the price down out of the stratosphere would the piracy rate drop since the application would be more affordable to a larger portion of the potential user base. I seem to remember something from microeconomics about lowering prices potentially moving your product up on the demand curve...

Posted at 6:36AM on Dec 19th 2005 by Chap

5. It worked OK for me when I installed it on both my work & home PCs, so I can't complain too much, I guess. Although, I do worry whether it will continue to work in the future. And what if I should want to move one copy to my laptop? There's just something annoying about the idea that software that I paid handsomely for might cease to continue functioning without the continued good graces of its maker. It seems to me that something I bought and paid for should be guaranteed to continue working.

Posted at 6:36AM on Dec 19th 2005 by David Salahi

6. I know that the activation process is flawed (what is there to think about) ... and it does nothing to stop piracy ... it just pisses off legit users.

Posted at 6:36AM on Dec 19th 2005 by Mario Georgiou

7. Yea - but..
I agree with some of Adam Fields' arguments - the activation needs to just work, and it needs to do so at any time of day, night or weekend. I understand that Adobe is interested in protecting their product, but they need to make sure they aren't stomping all over our feet in the process.

Posted at 6:36AM on Dec 19th 2005 by David Chartier

8. Nay, it's one of the reasons I refuse to purchase the upgrade. The other being that fact that it's entirely superficial.

Posted at 6:36AM on Dec 19th 2005 by Brian

9. I vote no for all activation products. Waht I hate most of all about activation is that it assumes everyone is a criminal, but we the customers must assume that the company is honest. I periodically reinstall my system using a Ghost image. In every case I have to reactivate my product. This is an annoyance and if it were not for the quality of the product I would never purchase it because I hate and abhor all products that require this activation.

It is a wonderful thing to think that the company you ahve jsut paid the bucks to for their product assume you are a criminal! What kind of customer service is this? I think it stinks!

Thats my comments!

Thanks for the opportunity to vote on this!

Posted at 6:36AM on Dec 19th 2005 by John Cook

10. re Brian's comment "The other being that fact that it's entirely superficial."

Actually I think you will find that this is certainly not a superficial upgrade. PS CS2 has plenty of great features, and if you are a Digital Photographer the new ACR and Bridge make everything soooo much better.

Posted at 6:36AM on Dec 19th 2005 by Richard Earney

11. I dont' get the sense most of the comments come from someone who's actually installed CS2. Most posts on other forums alsso seem to come from people oppsed to a company like Adobe enforcing a licence that's been in place for several versions.

I am with Chap, I've installed and on basic installation its seamless. It takes less time than the Updater to download all the changes already. But we'll see how easy it will be to move it to a new drive or machine.

meanwhile anyone who's decided NOT to upgrade because of this are only hurting themselves, not Adobe. This upgrade is as big as the one from 7 to CS

Posted at 6:36AM on Dec 19th 2005 by Ian McCausland

12. Activation is an annoying big brother concept but it's also a security and reliability concern. Adobe recently issued a patch that fixes a security hole. Adobe didn't author the activation module, so they're likely unaware of other potential security issues. A short scan of the Adobe forums shows that many legitimate users suffer application and installation problems due to activation.

I don't expect activation to ever go away. Photoshop is a critical tool for my work and its the best software Adobe offers in terms of stability and relatively solid new releases. But Adobe's customer support is minimal and arrogant. It's documentation and help are pathetic (got to keep that aftermarket book industry going). Adobe won't respond to this poll or anything short of a real challenge to Photoshop dominance. I'm not holding my breath.

Posted at 6:36AM on Dec 19th 2005 by bjnicholls

13. The concept of activation is illogical and does not agree with the idea of a license . . .in addition to being a huge annoyance. I have multiple computers -- several desktops and three or four laptops. Obviously, I have only one rear end and I can only use one of these boxes at a time. When I purchase a license to use Adobe's software, I should be able to load the software on as many machines as I like as long as I do not use the software on different machines at the same time. I completely agree with those who feel that activation is a bad idea which harrasses loyal customers like me, but does nothing to prevent piracy. I believe in paying Adobe well for a superb product, but don't hassle me with activation and force me to purchase several licenses just to be able to laod the product on my various computers. BTW, I have the same issues with activation for Acrobat. Acrobat is a much less mature product -- it has a long way to go before it is elegant as Photoshop.

Posted at 6:36AM on Dec 19th 2005 by Michael Andrew

14. I think the activation scheme is a failure in a business since, and I haven't even tried CS2 yet.

For software like Windows activation works great because people will use it no matter what, even if they have to pay for it, and it will be pirated by a multitude of different types of people. But with graphics design software the only people that really pirate it are kids who are probably too broke to afford it anyways. But here is where the business part comes in...

Those kids who pirate Photoshop and learn to use and love it will end up using it in their professional careers, where they will undoubtably purchase it legally because companies can be audited. But if the kids stop using it they will turn to something else like GIMP or MS's new offering, and thus not use it when they enter the professional world.

By pricing it prohibitivly high for students they will simply learn and be comfortable with something else, and superior software or not I expect this will hurt sales in the long run.

Posted at 6:36AM on Dec 19th 2005 by Chris

15. I think the activation sucks I have 3 systems so I have to buy one more copy plus their spyware tracks the software you have plus any plug ins you use and they track your web usage and where you go. Adobe is turning into Microsoft and I'm starting to hate them. The activation is about getting information about you rather than stopping pirates, however, I use Phase one's software and they had a problem with their web site for an entire weekend which made it impossible to activate and it screwed up a job because of it.

This is one of the main issues I have what if over the 4th of july I could not activate online which does go down a lot, and their phone service will be down due to the holidays so who will be screwed? you and I .... Adobe sucks

Posted at 6:36AM on Dec 19th 2005 by David F

16. Activation is unacceptable. But, coming from a company that will not allow a cross platform upgrade (ie. Windows to Mac) it's not surprising. Just another reason to go to The Gimp or P2P.

Posted at 6:36AM on Dec 19th 2005 by John.

17. Activation is a waste of time and an big pain in the posterior. Here is why...

1. Anyone interested in pirating the program can obtain a patch and/or code to disable activation. It only hassles honest users who paid for it. It does very little to prevent piracy.

2. I have had problems several times where I installed on a machine. Several months later I had a hardware failure and had to reinstall windows and the program (I had to change the HDD at this time) and the activation failed, saying that I had too many copies registered. This was compounded by the fact that when I called, they accused me of being a pirate becuase of multiple activation attempts. Of course it was even more pleasent (note the extreme sarcasm here) when a month later the same thing happend again!

3. I just tried to install CS2 on my laptop. It said I have too many copies activated. I only have it on one PC so that statement is not true. I called and after the automated system made me enter my codes, it said I had to talk to a person. Of course, they aren't there at this time. If I have to put up with activation, they should be there 24/7

4. What happens if Adobe goes under? Don't say its not going to happend because nobody at Enron saw trouble either. I then have a program that I cannot reinstall ever again.

5. Adobe could decide to no longer support an old version and stop me from activating it. Forcing me to buy a newer program whether I need it or not!

-Jeff

Posted at 6:36AM on Dec 19th 2005 by jeffrey a. schwartz

18. I don't have Internet access at home, not on the power grid, and don't have phone service. With activation, I need to lug my machine into town and use someone else's Internet connection to activate my digital darkroom. My home is a cabin in Inyo National forest and runs on solar/generator.

Posted at 6:36AM on Dec 19th 2005 by Allan

19. I am not against activation, but I am pleading with Adobe just to make it work. I bought a full version of CS2 and every few times I open Adobe Acrobat 7.0, it says my computer has been "reconfigured" and I must reactivate. Adobe stopped my activation after this happened several times and the customer service representative that I called accused me of installing CS2 on multiple computers. I was made to feel like a criminal and then he actually hung up on me! Further calls to the Tech support were more sympathetic - as has been the Help Desk at NAPP - however, even after reinstalling the CS2 program, activating while disabling all antivirus and adware programs, etc. I am still having to reactivate every 2nd or third time I open a PDF! I paid a lot of money for my legal copy of CS2. I do not mind activating. But constantly having to reactivate in addition to all of the time lost with tech support trying to fix this has been most upsetting. I am a dedicated Photoshop user (since 5.0) for many years, but I am finding nothing but denial from Adobe Tech support and even from NAPP that these problems exist. (I was told that my problem was most unusal - however I have found many other tech sites complaining about the same issue). I would appreciate hearing from anyone else who has the Adobe 7.0 reactivation problem and if anyone has found a way to fix it.

Posted at 6:36AM on Dec 19th 2005 by Ruth Schmidt

20. Reluctantly, I'm for it. On first thought, the activation seems intrusive, but think about this: the people it's really screwing are the hack designers who work for free and undermine our professionalism. Not only did we have to pay for the software, but we have to pay our dues in other ways too just to have the experience to use Photoshop well. Never before have novices been allowed such easy access to the tools of the trade as by pirating the software intended for the trade's people.

Posted at 6:36AM on Dec 19th 2005 by ddefrance